A communications satellite relays telecommunications signals to establish a communication channel between a transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. Communications satellites are used for several applications, such as television, telephone, radio, internet, and military applications. Communications generally requires line-of-sight between a transmitter and receiver. As such, ground-to-ground communications can be obstructed by the curvature of the Earth. Ground-to-satellite-to-ground communications extend the line-of-sight range around the curvature of the Earth thereby allowing communications between more widely separated points.